McGlynn Sweeps Second Straight Event in 2012
(Hamilton, ON) – Shawn McGlynn (#81) of Kitchener, entered Saturday nights battle at Flamboro Speedway with a thin point lead and did everything he could possible do to extend that advantage with just two events left in the 2012 championship chase.
In qualifying, title contender Jay Doerr (#40) of London hit the track halfway through the session and turned a lap of 16.639 seconds to take the provisional pole away from Jake ‘Juicebox’ Ott (#60) of Ayr, until the final qualifier hit the track. McGlynn was able to put his Ford Mustang on the pole with a new track record of 16.369 seconds, bettering the previous mark of 16.400 seconds. Bob Merrifield (#43) of Belle River was fourth, and Derek Clark (#88) of Strathroy was fifth.
McGlynn took the Blast Floor Coating Challenge, and would be chasing an additional $400 bonus if he could come through the pack and win from the back. Jason Meyer (#93) of Tillsonburg drew the pole after a sixth-place qualifying run, with Merrifield taking the green alongside him.
Merrifield tucked into line behind Meyer, while Doerr swiftly moved from fifth on the grid to third, and started to pressure Merrifield. Jay took second on lap 17, and grabbed the lead from Meyer one lap later while McGlynn had already stick handled his way to fourth. McGlynn kept charging, passing Merrifield and Meyer before setting the sights on Doerr. On lap 37 he made the move for the top spot and started to streak away. The race would be slowed by three yellow flag periods after that, and while Doerr stayed door to door for a number of laps once, he was no match for McGlynn who claimed his second consecutive victory on the tour, and also his second consecutive win at ‘Hamilton’s Asphalt Arena’, after taking the checkers in the final race of 2011.
The championship points leader spoke about the victory, “We came here and tested for the event, and it was probably a good thing we did, or we wouldn’t have won tonight. When we tested we broke a sway bar mount after about 30 laps. If we had’ve done it tonight we would’ve been out of the race. We also changed some springs because of the test, and it helped the car hook up better coming out. I took the challenge and started at the back, and I hope the fans enjoyed it. Jay was good on the restarts, and I had a problem low. I wasn’t scuffing the tires really well because I didn’t want to push the car under yellow and break something, because it was working so well. We put some more points on Jay tonight, and now we’ll get ready for Delaware.”
Doerr crossed the stripe well back of McGlynn, but a distance ahead of third-place Amanda Connelly (#16) of Hampton. He talked about his runner-up finish, “It was fun – I guess, but it would’ve been nice to have something for Shawn. We had a second-place car, and that’s where we finished. That was as fast a car as I’ve ever had here, and there was only so much I could do with him on the restarts. I tried once really hard and stayed on the outside of Shawn for a couple of laps, but that was it. It’s also not that we finished second, but it’s that we finished second to Shawn, and he’s the guy we’re chasing for the championship.”
Connelly, who was involved in a spirited battle with Josh Wood (#66) of London for the bronze medal position throughout the second half of the race spoke about her night, “We struggled in practice today and made some big changes to the car, and then had to go backwards a bit from there before the feature and it was much better. We were a little loose at the start and a little tight at the end, but Kelly [Balson –crew chief] and Graham made the car so much better. Racing with Josh was a lot of fun. For some reason, we always seem to be around each other, and it’s always clean. We’ve raced hard against each other, and he’s been such a great driver to race with. We’re looking good for third in points, and our goal was to be in the top-five in points. I’m also excited about going back to Delaware next weekend now that I know the track.”
Wood finished fourth, and remains fourth in points, losing a little ground to Connelly, while Ott rounded out the top-five in his cars’ maiden voyage.
The next race for the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup tour will be Saturday September second at Delaware Speedway. The race will feature an admission price of just $10, in what is sure to be a gate crashing special. The card will also see the championship run heat races for the first time, in addition to time trials and the 100-lap feature.
For more information on the Lucas Oil Sportsman Cup Series, Flamboro Speedway, or Delaware Speedway, please visit
www.lucasoilsportsmancup.com,
www.flamborospeedway.itgo.com,
www.delawarespeedway.com, or contact Series Director Dave Alexander at dalexand@sympatico.ca.
Release and Photos by Jamie Maudsley and
www.maudsleymotorsports.com.
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